Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have agreed to cancel the 1st One-Day International series opening match, which was due to take place in Paarl.
The decision was taken after two hotel staff members testing positive for COVID-19. As a precaution, the England players and management underwent an additional round of PCR tests on Saturday evening.
Following the test results, two members of the England touring party have returned unconfirmed positive tests for COVID-19. The players and management are now self-isolating in their rooms until further advice from the medical teams.
The medical advice from both CSA and ECB is that the match cannot not take place.
A decision on the remaining matches in the series will be taken once the results of the tests are ratified independently by medical experts.
CSA Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith said:
“CSA is doing everything in our power to ensure that our top priority, which is the health, safety and welfare of players, support staff and all involved in this series is safeguarded. With that in mind, we have made the joint decision to cancel today’s match.
“We are deeply regretful of this situation given the amount of time and energy that has been put in place to host a successful tour. We will continue to give the England team all the support that they need.
“We are in continuous talks with the ECB as we navigate the situation under the guidance of our combined medical teams.”
Ashley Giles, Managing Director, England Men’s Cricket, said:
“We regret that we are unable to play in today’s ODI, but the welfare of the players and support staff is our primary concern and whilst we await the results of further tests the medical advice from both teams was that this game should not take place.
“We remain in constant dialogue with Cricket South Africa and will continue to work closely with them to determine how best to move forward.”
The following is a statement from the Roy Davies, General Manager at the Vineyard Hotel:
“The Vineyard Hotel can confirm that two staff members tested positive for Covid19 on Friday 4 December following routine testing after the positive test of a South African player on Thursday 3 December.
“At this stage, it is not clear how the staff members became infected as neither have left the bio-secure area since 16 November and they do not work on the same team or in the same area. Our Covid response team is endeavouring to establish all the facts and contact tracing is underway.
“Our number one priority is the safety and wellbeing of our staff and guests and we have placed all our resources and efforts into investigating and resolving the situation.
“Both infected members of staff and the player have currently isolated in on-site apartments some distance from the hotel which have been kept sterilised and available for this purpose.
“We will issue further statements as more facts become available.”
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